Jottings, drawings and random musings of a designer, writer, father and husband.

Thursday, 1 August 2013

Retro Comic Strips: Fred Basset

Comic Strip: Fred Basset

Publication: Daily Mail

Years: 1963 - Present

Dateline: Present

As a child I loved the cartoon strips that featured in my Grandad's copies of The Daily Mail, it was always a plus when we went to stay with him to look at that weeks papers and read the cartoons.

Among the regular features were Focus On Fact, Flook, Peanuts and Fred Basset.

Fred Basset began life in the Daily Mail in July 1963 and was drawn by cartoonist Alex Graham from the comical perspective of a male Basset hound. Commentators seem to agree that Fred's time frame seems firmly routed in the 60s and 70s, although Grahm kept cultural references to an absolute minimum preferring to keep the strip a comical sometimes surreal observation of life situations, perhaps a result of its longevity.

Such has been the popularity of the cartoon it has continued to endure even after Graham's death in 1991, having been drawn since by Michael Martin.

Pictured above are two books which I've found over the years featuring Fred Basset comic strips.